Federated Learning With Health Data: Privacy-Preserving AI
In this edition of the LEAPcast we talk to Dr Huw Day, Huw is a post-doctoral research associate in digital health at the VIVO Hub for Enhanced Independent Living (https://www.thevivohub.com/). Having completed his PhD in Mathematics here at the University of Bristol, Huw began postdoctoral work in data science and machine learning. He also has a keen interest in data ethics, and advocate for outreach. You can find Huw via his LinkedIn profile here (https://www.linkedin.com/in/huw-day/) or email him on huw.day@bristol.ac.uk (mailto:huw.day@bristol.ac.uk).
We discuss federated learning and why it matters for healthcare and other privacy-sensitive domains. Federated learning addresses situations where data can’t be centralised. Instead models are sent out to clients (e.g., hospitals or homes), trained locally, and then aggregated on a central server. Huw discusses real deployments, key barriers such as governance, and privacy limits. He also describes Vivo’s work using federated learning to train models that control soft wearable exosuits from sensor data, while keeping sensitive in-home data local.
Other useful links mentioned in this episode:
https://www.thevivohub.com/ (https://www.thevivohub.com/)
https://docs.isambard.ac.uk/access/ (https://docs.isambard.ac.uk/access/)
https://www.linkedin.com/in/huw-day/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/huw-day/)
14 Aug 2026
Smart Scheduling in Healthcare: How Maths Can Save Lives and Costs
We explore operations research and how the smallest changes can make the biggest differences to the lives of patients, their families, and the healthcare professionals that look after them. Join us as we hear from Professor Daniel Gartner, LEAP Co_Investigator and lead for Cardiff University.
5 May 2026
Designing for success with "hard to reach" populations
How can digital health genuinely engage populations often described as “hard to reach”?
In this episode of LEAPcast, we speak with Becky Cotton, co‑founder of Lumino Health, about designing digital health technologies that engage underserved populations in ethical, inclusive, and sustainable ways.
18 Nov 2025
How to Design Content for Digital Health
Can good content design mean the difference between life and death? Ray Newman (CGI (https://www.cgi.com/en)) explains why health is different, how saying "poo" could save a life, and how to reduce your users' cognitive load when designing your service or app. Ray also talks about how to adopt a trauma-informed approach, and where to get gold standard design advice.
Mentioned in this episode:
Pee and Poo and the Language of Health (https://digital.nhs.uk/blog/transformation-blog/2019/pee-and-poo-and-the-language-of-health)
UK Goverment Design Principles (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/government-design-principles)
NHS Standards for Digital Health Content (https://service-manual.nhs.uk/content/standard-for-creating-health-content)
Trauma-Informed Design (https://www.designedwithcare.org/)
Rachel Edwards (https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachel-edwards-scotland/)
Miriam Vaswani (https://www.linkedin.com/in/miriam-vaswani/)
13 Oct 2025
Fundamentals of Medical Device Regulations for AI
Dr Paul Jewell (Assuric (https://www.assuric.com/)) provides practical advice for developers looking to balance patient safety with cutting edge innovation.
Join us as we delve into the evolving UK landscape of regulation for AI and LLMs, and what innovators should be doing to prepare.
Links to guidance and regulation mentioned in the show:
Medical Device Definition from the MHRA (https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/medical-devices-and-digital-tools/)
How to tell if your product is a medical device (MHRA) (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/borderline-products-how-to-tell-if-your-product-is-a-medical-device)
MHRA guidance on digital mental health technologies (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/digital-mental-health-technology-qualification-and-classification)
MDR 2002 (https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2002/618/contents)
EUMDR 2021 (https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg_impl/2021/2226/oj/eng)
Sign up to the LEAP Digital Health Hub mailing list here (https://bristol.us21.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=24b0fffa288f532c27804a508&id=984f9a34a1)
Produced by Karen Louise Dawe PhD and Emily Nielsen PhD
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